Victim In Crash Of Train, Truck Remains Critical

A Coral Springs man remained in critical condition Saturday as investigators worked to determine how a truck got stuck in the path of an oncoming train Friday evening.

Selwyn Gafen, 42, was on his way home to share Shabbat dinner with family when he stopped at the railroad crossing at the 500 block of Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale.

A semitrailer was on the tracks when the gates came down just before 6 p.m.

When a nine-car Amtrak struck the truck at more than 50 mph, the impact split the truck in two and sent debris flying.

A piece of metal shot through Gafen's window and struck him in the left temple. Surgeons at North Broward Medical Center operated on Gafen's brain for several hours Saturday morning, friends and family said.

Doctors told family the next 72 hours would be critical for the father of three, who was bleeding in his brain.

"If it is not clotting, it could be fatal," said Josef Soriano, Gafen's father-in-law.

It could be months before investigators determine how the truck got stuck on the tracks, said Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Mike Reed.

Saturday, investigators were inspecting the train for damage and talking to witnesses. Officials from Amtrak and CSX were also expected to inspect the train's equivalent to a plane's black box, which records the train's speed and time of a crash, Reed said. Only Gafen was injured in the accident.

Six people died at the same railway crossing in 1993 when an Amtrak train crashed into a tanker truck carrying gasoline. Rescue officials said the crossing is a particularly dangerous one.

Drivers who cross the tracks to turn onto Andrews Avenue and get onto southbound Interstate 95 immediately face another light at the entrance of an office complex, said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Division Chief Stephen McInerny.

"When cars are turning there, traffic will stop. People will be fooled into the idea there will be no problem," he said. "But when backed up in rush hour traffic, it is easy to find themselves in a position where they may be in the danger area of those tracks. It is easy to get caught up in the situation if you are not careful."

After the 1993 crash, improvements were made at the crossing. New gates were installed, and the road was leveled to eliminate a grade.

Gafen, an accountant who moved to Florida from South Africa nine years ago, recently became a U.S. citizen. Father to girls ages 1, 7 and 8, he is a careful driver, his father-in-law said.